SREEHANUMAN SWAMY TEMPLE, PANGODE,TRIVANDRUM-KERALA-COMPILED Dear friends,
Today my posting is about the Hanuman temple at Pangode military campus area inTrivandrum. After joining Trivandrum Telecom training centre in 1991, within a few days whilepassing through Pazhavangadi Ganapathy temple I had a rare sight. Military persons opening the hundiesand collecting deposited cash. Later, on enquires I could make out the famous temple ismaintained by Madras Military Regiment. I could understand there aresimilar temples in many places. One of them is at Pangode Trivandrum. While at Jabalpur foran advance training , I visited similar Ganesha temple within the militarycampus , one KM away from training centre at Jabalpur. There we could enterdetails before going to the centre. History of thetemple pretty long. Ihave reduced to the minimum possible. There is no separate legend about deities. Hope a divine reading Gopalakrishnan 13-08-2025 History Padmanabhapuram in the present state of Tamil Nadu was thethen capital of the erstwhile kingdom of Travancore. The rise of modern Thiruvananthapuram began with itsaccession by MarthandaVarma as king in 1729 asthe founding ruler of the princely state of Travancore. During the reign of Marthanda Varma in 1745 the capital of the kingdom was shifted from Padmanabhapuram toThiruvananthapuram. From then on, the city of Thiruvananthapuram hadseen expansions in all fields like art, culture, education, armed training,etc. The city had been named after the name of presiding deity ofthis kshetra Sri Anantha Padmanabha Swamy. The kings of Travancore wish to beknown as custodians of the State ruled by Sri Anantha Padmanabha Swamy. They had surrendered themselves toSri Anantha Padmanabha Swamy as a dutiful servant. King Marthanda Varma(1706–7th Jul 1758) was king of Travancore from 1729 until he died in 1758. He is known for beating the kings of European armed forces at the 1741Battle of Colachel against the Dutch. He was instrumental inexpanding the Travancore kingdom from the conventional domain of the kingdom. The Nair Brigade Without mention of the Nair brigade, the success story ofMarthanda Varma will be incomplete. Nairs were awarrior community in the region. The Nair Brigade was the army of the erstwhilekingdom of Travancore and was responsible for the security of Travancorekingdom. As the maker of modern Travancore Sri Marthanda Varma had modernizedthe army of the kingdom in which the Nair brigade played a good part. Hedefeated the Dutch commanders to help modernise the warfare. Later years Nair Brigade succeededin defending the kingdom against the invading army of Tipu Sultan of Mysore inA.D. 1791. In the war near the Nedumkotta, Tippu Sultan lost his swordin the war with the Nairs of Travancore. The Travancore army was renamed theTravancore Nair Brigade in 1818. Pallayam When the capital ofTravancore kingdom was shifted from Padmanabhapuram to Thiruvananthapuram byKing Marthada Varma, the Nair Brigade also shifted.Initially, theheadquarters was moved from the old capital to the new. Then it was shifted toKollam and later brought back to Thiruvananthapuram. The place where their HQwas in Thiruvananthapuram is known today by the name ‘Pallayam/Palayam’. ‘Pallayam’ in Malayalam means‘cantonment’. The building of the Headquarters of the Nair Brigade ofTravancore located in Pallayam/Palayam is now the Legislative Museum of Kerala. When the Nair Brigade shifted from Padmanabhapuram toThiruvananthapuram, theybrought with them some deities of worship to the new capital. One such deity is Sri HanumanSwamy brought by them.It is well known that army soldiers get inspiration by worshipping Lord SriHanuman. Sri Hanuman Swamy at Pallayam was worshipped by the then brigadepersonnel are now popular among the present devotees as ‘OTC Hanuman Swamytemple’. (OTC-OFFICERSTRAINING CENTRE). The place is also known as Vikas Bhavan. My note- Telecom training centre was very close to thisOTC hanuman temple, at PMG Junction during my telecom training in 1966 on the leased old TrivandrumEngineering college. Latershifted to own building at Kaimanam, Trivandrum. Later while working in DOT office as AGM, I used to visit the temple often. The troops used to worship this idol whenever they were onduty there. By 1840 AD, they took this idol to the garrison at Cantonment. In 1940 this idol of Lord Siva wasshifted to Pangode. As stated, earlier Sri Hanuman Swamy's idol wasunder worship at the Fort Area by the troops of the Nair Brigade before beingbrought here. Shifting of Pallayamto Pangode As the city was expanding so also the brigade, with the time the brigade was to be moved out ofpallayam. It was decided to move the brigade to a new location Pangode, which is locatedeast of Pallayam. Accordingly, the garrison was shifted to the new location atPangode in 1935. As a matter of practice, it was decided to establish a newplace of worship there. Membersof garrison wanted Sri Hauman Swamy who was under worship at pallayam to bemoved along with them to Pangode. However, there was enormous resistance from the locals. Subsequently, after the tantricadvice, Sri Hanuman Swamy was not moved from pallayam, but instead, a paintingdepicting all the features of the Lord was taken for worship at Pangode. Subsequently, an idol ofLord Hanuman Swamy worshipped near the Padmanabhaswamy temple was shifted to Pangode and installed. Shifting withinPangode complex Originally when the brigade moved to Pangode, the ‘place ofworship’ [Sri Hanuman Swamy ambalam] was located just outside the main gate ofthe HQ91 Infantry Brigade. After the establishment of the War Memorial adjacent to theSri Hanuman Swamy Temple complex, the Lord expressed through a Deva Prasna toshift the idols to another suitable place. Search for a suitable location within the brigade complexwas done and it was zeroed down to the present location close to Station Work Shop EME facing the Thirumala-PTP Nagar road in 2001. New Complex of Temple Lt.Gen AK Chopra colonel of the Madras regiment laid thefoundation for the new Sri Hanuman Swamy temple on 17th November 2006. From 30th June2011, all religious ceremonies for shifting idols to the new complex wereconducted. And on 10th July 2011 the punar pradishtai[re-installation] of idols were conducted. On 13th July 2011 Kumbabishekam wasconducted. History of Lord Siva The history of Lord Siva traces back to a period of 175years. In one of the annual exercises in 1836 of the Nair Brigade at Aaruvaamozhi (Aramboli, presently inKanyakumari district) they found an idol of Lord Siva under a peepaltree. The troops used to worship this idol whenever they were on duty there. By 1840 AD, they took this idol tothe garrison at Cantonment. In 1940 this idol of Lord Siva was shifted to Pangode. As statedearlier Sri Hanuman Swamy's idol was under worship at the Fort Area by thetroops of the Nair Brigade before being brought here. Presently this temple and Pazhavangadi Ganapathy areunder the same military administration. Present complex A rare mixture of the rural and the urban, Pangode is located midwaybetween Vazhuthacaud and Thirumala in Thiruvananthapuram. In the south western side of Pangode military area, there wasan ancient idol of Lord Krishna which was in a state of neglect. Since thisidol had some damages, it was removed and immersed in the sea in 1986 as perthe thanthric advice after transferring the powers to the idol of Lord Vishnu.In 1988 the idol of Lord Ganapathy and Nagaas were also installed besideschanging the peetham of Lord Siva. Although Sri Hanuman Swami temple is within the militarycomplex, still the general public can easily access the temple and offer theirprayers. Architecture This temple typically resembles the architecture of Keralatemples. With lots of trees and plants around, the temple provides a sense ofhaving arrived at Kadalivanam of Swami. Temple complex On entering the temple, anidol of Hanuman swami to our left welcomes us. Before entering the temple, people worship and docircumambulation [pradakshina] for this particular idol and then enter thetemple. This cool open space, darshan of this particular idol, and silence inthe atmosphere itself will calm the mind and prepare the devotee for a peacefulexperience. Proceeding further weenter the main Ambalam and can have a darshan of Moolavar Hanuman swami in themain sannidhi straight away. Thetemple has a serene atmosphere as that of an ashram conducive to dyanam andprayer. Thursdays are very special in this temple rather thanTuesdays and Saturdays.The moment we step inside the temple we are carried away by the tranquilatmosphere. One could feel the power of Swami. Sri Hanuman Swamy He is in a standing posture with his right hand showingabhaya mudra and his left hand resting on his hip. A copper mace is placedbeside him. The tail is above the head with a bell. Swami is always smeared with butter. His eyes aredirectly looking at the devotee and His kataksham falls directly on thedevotee. There are five main idols– Sri Hanuman Swamy, Sri Siva, Sri Vishnu, Sri Ganapathy, and Sri Nagaraja inthe temple complex. Kindly note that all these deities are the maindeities and there is no 'upa-devatha' in this temple. While Sri Ganapathy and Sri Nagaraja pradishta were done in1988, Sri Siva of this temple is much older(175 years) Poojas All poojas are done by Tulu Brahmins. There is no thanthri. Retired military persons are there employed in variousjobs. MOST IMPORTANT SPECIALPOOJAS OF THE TEMPLE PunahprathishtaAnniversary Festival-It is to be celebrated every year Jun-Jul(Midhunam-Chothi). Sahsrakalasam-Sahasrakalasa pooja is to becelebrated every year Jul-Aug (Karkkidakam-Navami) and (Karkkidakam-Deshami). Leksharchana-It is to be celebrated every yearJul-Aug (Karkkidakam-Navami) and (Karkkidakam-Deshami). Hanuman Jayanthi Festival- Festival is to be celebrated everyyear Dec-Jan (Dhanu-Moolam). Special poojas for otherdeities are as follows:- (a) Mahashivarathiri - Feb-Mar (b) Sree rama Navami - Apr-May (c) Vishu Kani - Apr (d) Sree Vinayaka chathurthi - Aug-Sep (e) Sree Krishna Jayanthi - Aug-Sep (f) Mahanavami - Sep-Oct (g) Ayilya chirappu - Oct-Nov (h) Thrikarthika - Dec-Jan Temple Timing. Morning - 05.00 AM to 10.45 AM Daily (except Thursday) Thursday - 05.00 AM to 12.00 PM Evening - 05.00 pM to 08.30 PM Address of the temple Sree Hanuman Swamy Temple Pangode,Thirumala P.O,Trivandrum-695006 Tele No : 0471-2352197 Location Pangode is locatedmidway between Vazhuthacaud and Thirumala in Thiruvananthapuram. Pangode is ata distance of around 12 kmfrom the Trivandrum International Airport and 6 km from the ThiruvananthapuramCentral Railway Station and Bus station. Specialty The area is significant since it houses the Pangode militarycamp. The Gurdwara, Mosque and Hanuman temple in the camppremises are frequented by soldiers and civilians alike. There is also a military hospital which caters to the needsof the soldiers. Pangode Kendriya Vidyalaya is located inside the militarycamp and it is one of the best schools in the city. The camp area is one of the favourite haunts of early morningjoggers and other exercise conscious people of the locality. The Killi river meanders through this region, blessing bothsides, en route to Jagathy. The office of the Asianet, the prime cable televisionnetwork, is located at Pangode. Pangode is blessed by the presence of three famous temples, Kavil Bhagavathi Temple, Sri SasthaTemple and the Edapazhanji Subramanya Temple nearby. Offerings Lord Ganesh and Lord Shiva are the other deities worshippedin the temple complex. Vada Mala and butter are the main offerings at thetemple. Administration Pangode temple premisesare maintained beautifully by the army and remains as one of the shady,beautiful spots of Thiruvananthapuram. Access points Trivandrum International Airport (7 km) andThiruvananthapuram Central Railway Station (4 km) are the nearby major accesspoints -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. 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